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FAQ – PIs / Program Directors

How do my trainees get registered for the BRI?

Trainees should subscribe to the BRI listserv and visit the BRI website. They will need to compile their department and grant information as well as confirm their PHS training requirements with you. Once they have completed this step, they should link to the BRI website registration page and fill out the online registration form.

Why am I being asked to help with discussion groups?

Discussion groups are an important part of the training process for trainees. All discussion group leaders are volunteers (many have been nominated by their department chairs) and based on feedback, they value these sessions as much as the trainees. We strongly encourage your participation and welcome your feedback on the process.

Funding for the BRI series is provided by the School of Medicine and the Department of Bioethics & Humanities and our budget is very limited. This is required training, and by providing the training centrally, the program aims to free up your time and budget.

We provide the background materials, suggestions for getting conversations started, videos of the lectures if requested and other assistance as requested.

Starting in 2008, we also provide a one-time training session/refresher on facilitating BRI discussion groups. Contact Margaret Mitchell for further information at uwbri@uw.edu.

We count on our discussion group leaders and are very grateful for their efforts!

How can I offer suggestions?

If you have news or events that you feel would be relevant to the BRI audience, please feel free to send the information to Dr. Kelly Edwards at edwards@uw.eduor Margaret Mitchell at uwbri@uw.edu.

How does trainee attendance get reported to NIH?

We compile attendance data for the summer series each year and the information is available on-line to the PIs and trainees searchable by last name or UWNetID. Institutional reporting is not required, so our report is a courtesy report to the PIs/Departments and is not shared directly with any funding agency. The PI will need to incorporate the attendance data into his/her grant reporting. Search attendance records here.

What can I report to the NIH about the ethics training my trainees receive?

PROGRAM CONTEXT, GOALS, COMPONENTS, AND REQUIREMENTS FROM THE UW BRI MISSION STATEMENT:THE PROGRAM IN CONTEXT:

The Biomedical Research Integrity (BRI) program offers trainees and researchers the chance to reflect on the everyday judgments that occur during the course of a research career. Our program provides an opportunity to explore important questions of ethics and research conduct, to discuss issues with peers and faculty, and to identify skills and resources to help address difficult questions related to research integrity. The program assumes that the responsible conduct of research requires more than rules and regulations. Choices within research practice are often subtle and require interpretation and judgment. Developing these skills and sensibilities requires something of you – it asks you to test your instincts and to identify your strengths and potential vulnerabilities. As part of your larger professional development experience, the BRI program aims to work with you to develop integrity from the inside out, as the foundation for a lifetime endeavor.

PROGRAM GOALS: BRI participants will be able to:

Recognize ethical issues and challenges to integrity that arise in the course of routine research practice;

Formulate a justified response to research challenges, using select ethical decision-making tools; and

Identify a sense of professional responsibility to take action and make good judgments that work to support good research practices.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS:

Lectures: Each year we invite five local or national leaders in science, ethics, or policy to raise and address core issues related to research integrity. Topics include: Conflict of interest, peer review, responsible authorship and publication, research misconduct, and data acquisition, management, ownership and sharing. Lecturers also address researcher/trainee responsibilities and/or collaborative science.

Discussion Sections: Each summer there are three rounds of BRI case discussions that employ problem-based learning. Each discussion is designed to address multiple RCR topics linked to the summer lectures. Discussion groups also address the scientist as a responsible member of society, contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research, and the environmental and societal impacts of scientific research. Discussion groups are facilitated by UW and FHCRC science and ethics faculty and are held in the weeks following the lectures at each facility.

Reflective Questions: Participants are asked 2-3 questions prior to each lecture. These questions are intended to connect the participant’s own experiences with the topic and can be discussed further in the discussion sections.

Brief Readings: Short, timely papers are circulated prior to each lecture to connect trainees with on-going discussions in the scientific literature on current research integrity issues.

Website: The BRI website is updated yearly and has additional resources and readings on each topic.

PHS REQUIREMENTS

The BRI program meets the PHS requirement for all NIH-funded trainees in instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research in National Research Service Award Institutional Training Grants (NIH Guide, 1994). The program covers five of the seven required topics: Conflict of interest, data acquisition and ownership, peer review, responsible authorship, research misconduct while also incorporating the themes of researcher/trainee responsibilities (mentorship) and collaborative science. The additional required RCR topics, human subjects protections and animal use, are required only when directly applicable to the trainee’s work. We recommend that these topics be covered through existing UW training programs (see Resources tab for relevant links).